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Culebra Peak is a fourteener in southern Colorado that lies entirely on private land. In the past, access was allowed through the Taylor Ranch. A climber could call the ranch to make reservations, and pay a fee of $40 to climb the mountain. The good news was they used the money to cover the cost of maintaining a road up to 11,000 ft. The road was much better than other fourteener roads in the Sangre De Cristo mountains. In 1999, right before I went for the Colorado Fourteener Speed Record, the Taylor Ranch was sold. The new owners immediately stopped allowing climber access to the mountain. Since the owners of the east side of the mountain have never allowed public access, the mountain was essentially made inaccessible to climbers. After making a few phone calls, the new owners granted me access to the mountain in September of 1999, allowing me to continue with my fourteener attempt. They were very generous and accommodating to grant me access. I received many emails from people asking how to get permission to climb Culebra. At the same time, the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) was negotiating a deal to allow access to the mountain. However, their deal does not accomodate most people. The CMC gets permission on a year-to-year basis to climb Culebra on a single day. They have about 25 spots available, awarded by lottery for CMC members. This year, your chances of winning a spot were about 1 in 4 and were much worse if you had already climbed Culebra. On the designated day, the chosen people climb the mountain in one collective mass, hardly a good way to enjoy a fourteener. At least some people get the chance to climb Culebra. Last year, there were three separate attempts to set a new Colorado Fourteener Speed Record. Getting permission probably would have been impossible, except that Colorado Representative McInnis sent a letter to the owners in the climbers' behalf. The owners relented in each case, allowing them access. I sent the owners a letter a few months ago and followed up with a phone call recently to try to get permission to climb the mountain. Unfortunately, this year they don't want to give me permission to climb the mountain. I sent a letter to some friends asking what would be the best thing to do. I gave myself a few options: I could try to get help from a Representative (although preliminary attempts to get a response from my representative Mark Udall failed), I could climb the mountain illegally, I could climb a nearby mountain as an "honorary Culebra", or I could leave the mountain out. My friend Buzz Burrell responded with what I feel is a very reasonable explanation of why I will leave Culebra out. Here is what he said: I think the reasoning behind your options is very good. Culebra has been a PITA. The people last year actually got permission via McGinnis, who had a mutual friend of Ricky's in Telluride, after they started, but they got lucky. Philosophically, there's no doubt that 14ers should be open, so I think trespassing is justifiable civil disobediance. But, overall, I suggest and support what you were leaning to: leave it out. No one has the "self-supported" record that I know of, so if you're the first, then you can sort of establish the rules. Just don't do the banned mountain, and be totally up front about why: 1. This is a test of stamina, mountaineering, and routefinding, NOT politics or gambling. 2. You definitely were physically capable of doing it, but desired a "pure" trip, not a political one. 3. You respected everyone's rights by not doing it illegally. 4. Culebra is a giant pain for everyone, and leaving it out will sort of be a relief for anyone who might want to follow. I also asked Gerry Roach for his opinion and his response was very similar to Buzz's. I hope that one day access to Culebra will be open. I assume that leaving out Culebra will cause some to dispute any record I claim, but I believe I am doing the right thing.
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